Like a god from heaven, he appeared at a critical moment when she needed help most.
It even made her forget that she was in danger.
"If you want to enjoy the moon there, I'll leave you alone." Andrew's funny, playful voice came.
He spoke Italian. He must hear her cry just now.
She was surprised, and her heartbeat quickened. After all, Italian was not a very popular international language, unlike English, which was becoming universal.
The man spoke very fluently, and judging by his appearance and temperament, it was clear that he had received a very good education and that his family background was by no means ordinary.
Recovering herself, she cried, "Help me up, please! I'm not in the mood to enjoy the moon!"
Andrew laughed, put down the backpack, took out the emergency rope, and lowered it down.
She was so hungry, so tired, and so weak that she slipped down the rope several times during the climbing.
When she was too worried to know what to do, Andrew took out quickdraws and slings and then looped the rope around a tree before he slid down. He tied her to the rope with a harness and tried to ride her up.
Her soft heart throbbed terribly. Especially when he was holding her up, his body against hers, her heart palpitated with excitement that she had never felt before. Her cold body became as hot as his.
"What about you? How can I help you up when I get up?" She asked in a trembling voice.
"No need to worry about me." His lips quirked up into a half-smile.
She blushed, knowing she had given him so much trouble, and said no more.
As she was hoisted up, she heard his faint breathing below.
"Dame it. How'd she get to be so heavy...."
Her face was aflame with embarrassment.
Was her weight too much?
Maybe she needed to lose some weight after going back home?
But she had never thought about losing weight before.
She never cared about her image in front of men. But now, she felt she was not perfect everywhere and even considered to reduce weight because of his casual remark.
After being hoisted up to the flatland, she took a few breaths, leaning over, and asked him how to help him up.
He asked her to step back, and then he tied the rope around his waist, took a running jump, and climbed up the chasm.
He moved quickly like a cheetah, and his action pieced together without a break.
She was dumbfounded, and her heart was beating harder. She realized that her supposed ability to survive in the wild was nothing in front of this man.
Andrew obviously did a lot of outdoor rock climbing, and that was why he was so graceful and fast in his movements.
If he had fallen into the chasm, he would have come out easily.
She stared at the man in front of her, stupefied, her heart popping. A magical feeling she had never experienced came from somewhere deeper, and she didn't know what was going on.
She seemed to lose the ability to speak when she looked at him. Her mind went blank.
After a while, she recovered and was about to ask him what his name was and thanked him when they heard footsteps approaching and people shouting something like "young master".
Andrew's face changed. He quickly packed his climbing gear and put on his backpack, turning to leave.
Looking at his back, she felt empty and could not help crying out.
"Hey—"
He paused and looked back.
Her dancing heart was ready to jump from her body.
"I haven't thanked you..." She clenched her hand and got up her courage, and decided to ask for his contact information right away.
But he simply said, "if someone asks you, don't tell them you met me. That's how you thank me."
With that, he left in a hurry, his figure disappearing in the dark of the mountains.
Then she walked back and met her father on the way.
When her father asked, she obeyed Andrew's wishes and didn't tell him that she had met an American man.
From then on, this brief encounter in the remote mountains of a foreign country became her secret, a sweet and beautiful secret that made her blush.
Every time she remembered the night in the chasm when he tied a rescue rope to her and held her in his arms, she enjoyed in retrospect for a long time.
Her face was suffused with enchanting blushes because of the sweet memory.
Then she closed her eyes and gradually sank into sleep.
***
At midnight, Savannah woke up and went to the bathroom.
When she finished and walked back, she saw a shadowy figure standing opposite the window of the dormitory.
The outline of the figure was strangely familiar.
She shivered. Was that, Dylan?
Why did he come in the middle of the night again?
She rubbed her eyes, not quite sure. But since he had done it before, she decided to go out to have a look.
Out of the dorm, she walked to the opposite path and saw Dylan standing there with a gloomy face. He stared at her as she approached.
"What are you doing here?" Even in the dim light, she could see the frost and repressed anger on his face.
Dylan walked up to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her into his arms.
She didn't know how long he had been standing there, but she felt the coolness from his clothes and sensed his disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.
"What's up?" She pushed him away as she looked up.
Without a word, he clutched her face, and his mouth found hers. He kissed her long, hard, and passionately. His tongue was in her mouth, claiming and possessing her.
"Stop, Dylan... What's going on..." Savannah struggled to push him away in his arms.
Then he let her go, panting and calming down.
"Where did you go this evening?"
Savannah finally understood why he had come in the middle of the night.